Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Ouderkerk aan de Amstel
There was no church in
town until 1330
(see p28)
, so
people came instead to this
picturesque riverside village to
worship at the 11th-century
Oude Kerk that stood here until
it was destroyed by a storm in
1674. Convivial waterside cafés
and restaurants are the chief lure
these days, but you can also
walk in the wooded garden of an
18th-century house, Wester
Amstel, and visit an unexpected
site: the Beth Haim Jewish
cemetery. Amsterdam's Jews
have been buried here since
1615, when they were forbidden
burial in the city.
d
Metro or train to
Bijlmer, then bus 175
Amsterdamse Bos
Cobra Museum
This museum of modern art
in residential Amstelveen is
dedicated in part to the influential
Dutch movement conceived in
1948. Its founders, including
Dutchman Karel Appel
(see p47)
amalgamated the names of their
home cities - Copenhagen,
Brussels and Amsterdam - to
create its name: CoBrA. They
wanted to promote art that was
spontaneous and inclusive, and
were inspired by the work of
primitives, children and the
mentally ill. Paintings in the
permanent collection are shown
in changing thematic displays,
augmented by temporary exhib-
itions. The light, spare building,
by Wim Quist, opened in 1995.
d
Sandbergplein 1-3, Amstelveen
•
Tram 5 to Binnenhof
•
020 547 5050
•
www.cobra-museum.nl
•
Open 11am-
5pm Tue-Sun
•
Admission charge
Amsterdamse Bos
Just a short bus, old-
fashioned tram
(see p68)
or bike
ride away, this attractive woodland
park makes a wonderful contrast
to the city. Laid out on reclaimed
land in the 1930s with the dual
purpose of creating jobs for the
unemployed and providing more
recreation space, the park has
woods and meadows, lakes and
nature reserves. There is plenty
to do: hire bicycles, go boating,
eat pancakes, visit the bison and
the goats and the Bos Museum,
which describes the park and how
it was built.
d
Amstelveenseweg
•
Bus 170, 172
•
Open permanently
Java Eiland and KNSM
Eiland
These former docks, outposts of
the Eastern Islands, have been
the subject of intense develop-
ment and renovation in the last
decade, in response to the city's
need for new housing. They are
now considered trendy places
to live, and designer home shops,
boutiques, restaurants and cafés
are springing up. They are most
easily reached by the two bridges
from Oostelijke Handelskade.
d
Ferry from Centraal Station or Bus 32, 59
City of Cyclists
Cycling comes as naturally to
Amsterdammers as walking, royal
family included. There are about
600,000 bikes in the city - almost
one per person. Theft is endemic,
so snazzy models are avoided.
Look out for: the huge bike shed
at Centraal Station; bikes being
dredged up from canals; the
eight-man “conference bike” and
the heart-shaped “love bike .
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